


Nightmare

by northstar_rocks



Category: Green Lantern (Comics), The Flash (Comics)
Genre: Blood, Dismemberment, F/M, Flash!Parallax, Homophobic Language, M/M, Nightmare, Unrequited Love, implied halbarry, night terror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:34:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23252521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/northstar_rocks/pseuds/northstar_rocks
Summary: Barry's nightmares following his possession by Parallax.
Relationships: Barry Allen/Hal Jordan, Barry Allen/Iris West
Comments: 7
Kudos: 28





	Nightmare

**Author's Note:**

> Oh god this was supposed to be done in August, but i am such a procrastinator and i didn't know which way to go with it and then i wasn't sure how to end it AND THEN i wasn't sure if i liked the end..... so the end is open to interpretation.  
> There was no beta for this because it's a drabble and not worth it.
> 
> And finally, here is a picture of [Barry as Parallax ](https://www.superherodb.com/pictures2/portraits/11/050/12739.jpg) for reference

Sleeping has become a thing that I no longer enjoy. It wasn't a thing that I looked forward to exactly but it's definitely become something that I dread.

When I dream I see him there. The wicked knowing smile. Too many teeth and a tongue that swipes over those too many razor sharp teeth. I can move but I don't move fast enough. He always backs me into a corner or against a wall; This time trip over something behind myself as I try to keep distance between us. 

He crouches next to me and leans down to whisper in my ear. I know he's whispering but the whispers feel like screams in my head. I want to close my eyes, but for some reason I can't. I don't want to see his face; _My_ face. My face with the too many sharp teeth.

Parallax. 

"Barry," he says with hot breath against my ear. It makes my skin crawl. "Always so afraid. No one sees it though. You hide it so well." He almost sounds disappointed. "Behind that confident smile, the beautiful wife and the loyal friends.” 

He moves away from my ear to look into my eyes with face too close to mine. He runs his hand through my hair and to the back of my skull, then digs his sharp nails into my neck. 

"They don't know about the filthy thoughts that fill your head at home, at work, in costume." 

"Please stop," I barely manage in a whisper. 

His nails dig harder into the muscles in my neck and his twisted smile grows larger showing an impossible amount of teeth.

"Does Iris know who you think about when she's on her knees in front of you?" He knows the answer but asks anyway just to drive the knife in further. "It eats you up inside, doesn't it?" the smile grows even larger somehow and he lets go of my neck.

"You'll never be able to tell her. And you'll never be able to leave her. Because if you leave she'll know. And then she'll tell everyone about her husband the faggot, the liar, the cheater. And then who will want you? Certainly not Hal."

“Do you ever wonder why Hal's so chummy with you? It's not because he likes you or because he's your _‘friend’_. It's to keep you in check. The Bat, even Big Blue don't trust you.. The damage that you're capable of causing. The havoc you could wreak. Hal's there to make sure you stay complacent. Big Blue and Hal are the only ones who even stand a chance against you. Why do you think the yellow on your costume irritates him? Makes it a bit harder for him to stop you when you go off the deep end."

The dream usually stops here or a little before. Iris will wake me up because I'm tossing and turning. Or I just wake up on my own feeling sick and once even throwing up. But recently the dreams are lasting longer. 

I'm sitting at the League conference table and see my reflection on the glass window. My suit is completely red; No gold or yellow. The table, walls and floor have splatterings of red. I rise out of my chair to better survey the room and am confronted with the broken bodies of my teammates. I realise that my boots are red because they're covered in blood. I look up and see Hal standing on the opposite side of the room. Myself as Parallax stands behind him with one arm around his waist and the other around his chest. My... _his_ sharp fingers sinking into him. 

He whispers into Hal's ear, "You know what you have to do." 

For a split second everything goes black and and when I can see again it's only to be staring into bright lights above me.

I'm laying on the conference table. Turning my head to the side I see Hal holding my blood covered boots. I try to sit up but I can't. My attention moves from the boots Hal is holding to my legs. My feet... are gone. Looking back at Hal, I realize that the boots he’s holding are not empty. 

It's never gone this far before. 

Am I even sure that this is still a dream?! 

"Oh god. Oh no. no-no-no-no-no. This is real."

I attempt to move again and this time am rewarded with limited upper body movement. There is a considerable weight upon my chest and my arms feel like they're filled with lead but at least I can movie them. Some movement in my hips even. But my feet. My feet are. _Gone_. Hal has them. 

"You took them!" I scream at Hal, "You cut them off!" I scream at the razor toothed visage of myself standing behind Hal. "YOU TOOK MY FEET!" 

Then, finally, Hal speaks,"I'm just holding them." 

Parallax's face contorts in anger and in a swift motion the hand on Hal's chest moves up and across his throat. Long sharp claws sever muscle and bone. Hal's head falls from his shoulders and lands on the ground with, not a thud, but a crash of breaking glass.

Milky white bloodshot eyes stare unblinkingly at me while I struggle against the invisible weight atop my body. Hal's bodiless head blinks and a shout escapes his mouth a fraction of a second before the mouth even moves, like poorly synced audio.

"Fuck!"

It's Iris's voice..... from Hal's disembodied head. It finally hits me. The realization that I'm still asleep. It doesn't make the dream any less horrifying.

I squeeze my eyes shut hoping that when I open them again I'll have escaped this nightmare. But when I open them I see Parallax suddenly standing next to me. He's holding Hal's head by the hair and level with my face. He grins that too toothy smile again. 

"Don't you want a kiss before you wake up?" 

He hold the head closer, "It's the only chance you'll ever get, faggot."

He moves Hal's head closer. I turn my head. 

"Give Barry a kiss, Hal." 

Again, I squeeze my eyes shut as tight as possible. I feel warm lips on my cheek and hear Iris's pleading voice, "Please wake up, Barry." 

This time when I open my eyes I see Iris kneeling next to the bed. I feel my hand in hers. My throat and mouth feel like I've been eating sand. 

"Iris..."

It's not a question. I know that it's really her and not a dream. 

... 

... 

I'm 99 percent sure she's not a dream.

She lets out a relieved breath that sounds like she'd been holding it the entire night. The room isn't as brightly lit as usually. One of the bedside lamps is lying broken on the ground. I think it's the breaking glass that I heard in my dream. 

"Jay?... Hal? What are you here?" I ask with a hoarse voice.

Hal looked surprised and a little embarrassed. 

“I, uh, got booted from my apartment. You and Iris are letting me stay in the guest bedroom. Remember?" 

"Oh...yeah. Okay, I remember." 

Jay reaches out and puts a hand on my shoulder, "You gave us a bit of a scare, son." He must see the confusion on my face and explains, "Iris called when she couldn’t wake you." 2

"It was a nightmare ag--" 

"The same one?" Iris asks before I can even get the last word out. 

"Yes? But it was longer... And a little different. I don't really remember that much," I lie because I don't want to tell her about the things Parallax said about Hal. What Parallax said to me. I know Hal will suspect that I'm lying. Hmph. He probably _knows_ that I'm lying; He knows me well enough. 

There's a short uncomfortable silence that feels like forever until Iris asks Jay to stay while she makes a very early breakfast for us all. He accompanies her to the kitchen while Hal sits himself in the chair a couple feet away from my side of the bed. I don't need to turn my head to see him because I can see us both in the vanity mirror straight across from the foot of the bed. After a minute or so of silence Hal scoots the chair close to the bed. He gives me a small close-lipped smile and pats my hand and assures me, "It gets better."


End file.
